TL;DR
- Health caps at Level 11 unless you unlock Abyssal Energy Research at the Scholastone Institute
- Completing the research raises your health cap all the way to Level 18
- Talk to Grunvar at Scholastone and work through two prerequisite research tasks first
- Research costs 130 Silver and takes 20 in-game hours — but it will stall at 50%
- To fix the stall, activate a new Abyss Nexus in Haunted Hill with a Scholastone Research Assistant
- You also need 5 Abyss Cells to push each health level past 11
- After Level 11, each upgrade still costs Abyss Artifacts on top of the Abyss Cells
Why Your Health Won’t Go Past Level 11
When you hit Health Level 11 in the Skills menu and try to upgrade further, the game stops you with this message:
“Not enough understanding of the Abyssal powers. You must acquire knowledge through research.”
This isn’t a bug. It’s a locked system. The game won’t let you spend Abyss Artifacts on Health past Level 11 until you’ve unlocked a specific research project at the Scholastone Institute. Once you do, your health can be pushed all the way up to Level 18 — a significant jump that makes a real difference in the game’s toughest boss encounters.
Two things are required to break the cap:
- Complete Abyssal Energy Research at the Scholastone Institute
- Collect Abyss Cells from Abyss Creatures
We’ll cover both below.
Step 1 — Unlock Abyssal Energy Research at Scholastone
The Scholastone Institute is where the health cap unlock lives. The lead researcher there is Grunvar, a grumpy orc you can access from Chapter 5 onward.
You can’t jump straight to Abyssal Energy Research. There are two prerequisite tasks you need to complete first.
How to Unlock Abyssal Energy Research — Step by Step
- Go to the Scholastone Institute and speak with Grunvar.
- Select “Research Request” and listen to his task — he’ll ask you to complete “Abyssal Environment Research” first. This costs just 1 Silver and is quick to finish. Reward: Beekeeper’s Gear Blueprint.
- Next, complete “Abyss Energy Restoration Phenomenon Research” — find this on your map inside the Scholastone Institute area. It costs 12 Silver. Reward: Faded Abyss Artifact Blueprint.
- After both are done, head west of Grunvar inside the institute and examine the wall to claim the Ancient Abyss Research knowledge.
- Speak with the Scholastone Research Assistant in the area.
- Return to Grunvar and you can now select “Abyssal Energy Research” — this is the one you want. It costs 130 Silver and takes 20 in-game hours.
Don’t have enough Silver? Check our guide on how to make money fast in Crimson Desert to stock up before you start.
Step 2 — Fix the Stalled Research (50% Bug)
Here’s where most players get stuck. Around the 50% progress mark, the Abyssal Energy Research will completely stop. No timer, no progress — just frozen.
This is not a bug. It’s a built-in interruption that requires you to do a field task before the research can continue.
How to Fix the Stalled Research
- Check your map — a new marker will appear. The Scholastone Research Assistant has moved to Duskwood, Hernand.
- Travel to Duskwood and speak with the Scholastone Research Assistant.
- She’ll ask you to travel north to an Abyss Nexus in Haunted Hill (marked on your map).
- Go to Haunted Hill, stand on the Abyss Nexus, and defeat the Wandershrub enemies around it to activate the fast travel point.
- Once the area is clear, return to the Scholastone Research Assistant in Duskwood and report back.
- The research will now resume with Grunvar and finish out the remaining 50%.
After this, wait out the remaining in-game hours — sleep to skip time if needed — and the research will complete.
Step 3 — Get Abyss Cells
With the research done, you can now try to upgrade Health past Level 11. But there’s one more requirement: Abyss Cells.
Each upgrade past Level 11 costs 5 Abyss Cells plus Abyss Artifacts. The good news is you only need those 5 cells per level — beyond that, it’s back to just Abyss Artifacts.
Where to Get Abyss Cells
Abyss Cells drop from Abyss Creatures — hostile enemies found near Mysterious Energy zones and Abyss Nexus fast travel points on the map. The main ones to hunt are:
- Bismuth Oreback Crabs — disguise themselves as metallic ore on the ground. Hit them with Force Palm to reveal them.
- Spiked Wandershrubs — a specific variant of the Wandershrub enemy. Less reliable but still a valid source.
The best farming location is Drakesfall Castle, directly north of Hernand. It has a high density of Bismuth Oreback Crabs and an Abyss Nexus inside the castle that lets you fast travel out and back to respawn enemies quickly.
For a full breakdown of where to farm and how to loop runs efficiently, see our dedicated how to get Abyss Cells in Crimson Desert guide.
Step 4 — Upgrade Your Health Past Level 11
Once the research is done and you have Abyss Cells:
- Open the Skills menu
- Navigate to Health on the right side of the skill tree (look for the cube icon)
- You can now upgrade past Level 11, up to a maximum of Level 18
Each upgrade increases Kliff’s maximum health pool. The more you level it up, the more Abyss Artifacts each upgrade costs — so expect the cost to scale steeply toward the higher levels.
Note: Health can be upgraded a maximum of 18 times total. Each upgrade increases Kliff’s maximum health, letting him survive more damage before being defeated.
Is Max Health Worth It?
Yes — especially for boss fights. A larger health bar gives you more room to make mistakes, and some of Crimson Desert’s late-game bosses hit very hard. Getting from Level 11 to even Level 14 or 15 is noticeable immediately.
The 130 Silver research cost is steep for early-to-mid game players, but it’s one of the best investments in the whole research system. Prioritize funding this tree early — the health cap boost is one of the most impactful research unlocks in the game.
If you’re also looking to push your Stamina past its cap, that’s a separate research project — Red Seaweed Research at the Urdavah Institute in the Crimson Desert region. It works similarly: fund the research, collect 10 Red Seaweed from the southeast coasts of Delesyia, and your Stamina cap unlocks up to Level 14.
Other Helpful Guides
- How to research in Crimson Desert — all institutes explained
- Best skills to level up first
- How to get skill points
- How to get Abyss Cells in Crimson Desert
- How to open Sealed Abyss Artifacts
- How to get better equipment
- How to enter the Wayward Woods Witch Hideout — completing the witch questline unlocks Abyss Gear crafting, which also relies on Abyss Cells
- How to unlock Witch’s Abyss Gears
- How to increase Attack Level
- How to increase Defense Level
- How to respec in Crimson Desert
- How to make money fast
- Crimson Desert review
Where To Play Crimson Desert
Crimson Desert is available on:
